The Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened in Beijing Saturday.

During the four-day meeting, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee will report its work to the CPC Central Committee, and participants of the plenum will deliberate two documents -- a draft decision of the CPC Central Committee on issues regarding the improvement of the socialist market economic system and a draft proposal of the CPC Committee on revising part of the Constitution.

Analysts here say that it is the first time for the Political Bureau to report its work to the CPC Central Committee, a move showing the latest endeavor the CPC Central Committee, with Hu Jintao as general secretary, has made in order to further promote democracy within the CPC and enhance the vitality of the CPC.

China embarked on the reform and opening-up drive with the convening of the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee 25 years ago. The 14th CPC Central Committee adopted at its third plenary session 10 years ago the Decision of CPC Central Committee on Issues in Establishment of Socialist Market Economic System, ushering in a new phase in China's economic restructuring and bringing along great economic and social development.

Experts say that although China has built a framework of socialist market economic system, the framework is still underdeveloped and imperfect as deep-seated structural problems left over from the planned economy era have not yet been solved at the root.

The Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee is expected to call for breaking through structural obstacles, which will mark another turning point and a new starting-point in China's reform process, according to the experts.

The plenum is convened in accordance with a decision made at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held Aug. 11. The August meeting held that China's current Constitution on the whole meets the needs of reform, opening-up and modernization drive and should be kept stable.

However, the August meeting also held at the same time that it is also necessary to make appropriate revisions and supplements to the Constitution in light of objective demands arising from China's economic and social development according to legal procedure.

Details of the proposed revisions to be put forward by the CPC Central Committee were not disclosed at the August meeting.

(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2003)